Édouard-Gaston Deville | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Édouard-Gaston Deville

Édouard-Gaston Deville, surveyor (b at La Charité sur Noire, Nièvre, France 21 Feb 1849; d at Ottawa 21 Sept 1924). Educated at the naval school at Brest, Deville served in the French Navy and was in charge of its hydrographic surveys throughout the world.

Deville, Édouard-Gaston

Édouard-Gaston Deville, surveyor (b at La Charité sur Noire, Nièvre, France 21 Feb 1849; d at Ottawa 21 Sept 1924). Educated at the naval school at Brest, Deville served in the French Navy and was in charge of its hydrographic surveys throughout the world.

In 1875 he retired and came to Canada, becoming inspector of surveys in Québec. In 1881 he was appointed inspector of Dominion Land Surveys and in 1885 surveyor general of Canada. He experimented with photography in surveying in mountainous areas and in 1889 published Photographic Surveying. Regarded as the father of photogrammetry in Canada, he supervised many major surveys. He was a founding member of the Royal Society of Canada.